Secretary of State Wes Allen announced on Tuesday he will seek the Republican nomination for lt. governor in 2026.
Allen served as the Pike County Probate Judge and a member of the Alabama House of Representatives before being elected as Alabama Secretary of State in 2022.
“I am incredibly proud of the work we have accomplished in the Secretary of State’s office. From cleaning up our voter rolls to creating and launching the most effective voter integrity database in the country to ensuring that business owners across our state have their needs met efficiently and effectively,” Allen said. “The Lt. Governor seat will be an open seat in the 2026 election and I believe it is time for me to take my record of conservative, effective leadership to that office.”
Allen garnered national attention minutes after being sworn into his current office when he signed documents to officially withdraw Alabama from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). He then exposed the organization’s address as being a vacant office with no personnel, no computers and no actual systems after he visited the office’s published address to find no actual ERIC offices existed there. Allen worked with his staff to replace ERIC with the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (AVID) which identified thousands of names on Alabama’s voter rolls that had passed away or had moved to other states.
“When I took office, Alabama’s voter roll was a bloated mess,” Allen said. “I am proud of the fact that we have been able to do the hard work that it took to create a program resulting in a much more accurate voter roll. The people of Alabama deserve that.”
Allen was invited by U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) to testify before the U.S. Senate on issues related to election integrity and security. His testimony highlighted the steps the Biden Administration was taking to block efforts by the states to verify citizenship of those registering to vote in our elections. Allen’s commitment to ensuring that only U.S. citizens could vote in Alabama elections culminated in his office’s cooperation with law enforcement authorities to investigate and convict illegal immigrants attempting to participate in state elections. Last month, Angelina Maria Francisco, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was sentenced to prison for voting in several elections that were held prior to Allen taking office.
Prior to serving as secretary of state, Allen sponsored several bills as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, including the banning of cross-sex hormones and gender reassignment surgeries on minors. Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order enacting a similar ban on the federal level.
The Republican primary election will be held on May 26, 2026.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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